Chart of the Day: Scientists say media coverage of science is bad

Scientists say poor news coverage and the public’s lack of science knowledge are some of the biggest problems to their field, according to a study by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press released last week.

Out of 2,533 scientists surveyed, 83 percent viewed TV news coverage of science as only fair or poor. Newspaper coverage did slightly better, with 63 percent of scientists scoring it with an only fair or poor rating.

An even greater majority of scientists — 85 percent — said a lack of public knowledge of science was a major problem for science in general. The survey showed that public knowledge of science is slightly declining too. The 1,005 people surveyed were quizzed on five science questions that were previously asked in a general social survey in 2008. Fewer people answered the questions correctly this year, than last year.

Survey: How much of a problem is each of the following for science in general?